Muse-ic

From my torch session yesterday morning...

Storm

Sakura

Spring

Gypsy Rose

A good friend reminded me yesterday that sometimes the hardest part is just getting started. It is.

Perspire, Inspire

Good grief, but it's hotter than the surface of the sun around here! We've had temps in the I-kid-you-not 100's for the past week, with 45% humidity. I hate it. I lived in Miami for ten years when I was growing up, and as soon as I graduated from high school, I went as far from Miami as I could. Do not like excessive heat. We've been spending a lot of time finding indoor fun, and also going out for brief periods early in the morning for fun like this:
One of out local outdoor malls has a fountain and they let the kids play in it. It's like a little water park and it's so much fun! It's even better that there is a Starbuck's right next to it so Momma can have her weekly Java Chip Frappuccino while the kids play.

Because the heat has been so ridiculous, I haven't been able to make any beads!! It's just too hot to even THINK about sitting in front of a huge flame, sweating on my glass rods. Yuck. I wish I could say I have been churning out the jewelry pieces, too, but alas, not so much. I've had a lot of great ideas, and I have been playing around with new (for me) types of wire, but not a whole lot is coming together.

This is a tough time for spending a lot of solitary creative time. The little kids are off of preschool for a couple of weeks, so my days are full of managing them, spending fun time with them, and doing things that are not focused on jewelry or glass or business. I've also been working at my 'real' job (which I do about ten hours a week), and between that, and the kidlets, well, there hasn't been a whole lot of creative time.

So one of the things I have been doing is focusing on storing up images for color inspiration for later. I took these pictures at my kitchen window...
That is one of the zinnias from the kids' garden in our yard. I love cobalt blue glass and this bottle always sits on my windowsill. I think they make a very intense and mysterious combination. It makes me think of the deep end of the ocean, or summer twilight.

Playing with the cobalt blue and magenta zinna, I added in this:
The sheer green of the tomato and the bright orange of the washcloth...I like the blue-magenta-orange, and I like the green-orange-blue, but all of them together isn't doing it for me.
This, however, I like. The sheer green, with the olive green and the cobalt is just pretty.

I might have to see what I can come up with later this week. It's supposed to be-- gasp!--in the 80's for a few days! Woohoo! Time to set up the torch!

Okay, I promise, a new jewelry piece this week. I'm working on something right now as I type (yes, I multitask...I have three kids...).

For now, though, a picnic awaits...

How do you stay in touch with your creative-ness when you can't make art directly?

(Not Even Remotely) Wordless Wednesday

I was reading a post this morning by Lorelei Eurto over on Art Bead Scene about her not going to the big Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee this week. It's a huge trade show with tons of opportunities for classes, networking, hobnobbing, and of course, bead and bead supply buying. heaven for those of us involved with art jewelry, or really, ANYTHING that has to do with beads.

I have never been to Milwaukee, and I want to go, for the show, definitely, and just because the last time I traveled alone to a location I have never been to before was....senior year in college? Eighteen years ago now. I forget what it's like to travel alone, to manage everything all by yourself, get through the airport, to your destination, find food, necessities, get around the city. I was too scared to really do much traveling when I was twentysomething; I much preferred the safety of the "known world" I inhabited at college. I wish I could have had the sense of adventure and relative fearlessness THEN that I seem to have developed NOW. Isn't that always the way? Sometimes I find it hard to let go of regret over choices I made when I was young.

I hope I instill a sense of "give it a shot, go for it, explore!" mentality in my children. One thing I have learned over the last year with my art journey is that it's never too late to do what's in your heart.

******************************************
And, in a totally random way....here is the new kitten that has unexpectedly joined the Brandel household:
I give you -- Shadow! She is six weeks old and SO Very Tiny.
My husband is a very compassionate man. He found this little beauty mewling piteously behind his office building yesterday and couldn't bear to leave her. Sorry for the crummy picture, it's hard to snap a shot of a feisty little furball such as this when you are by yourself.

****************************************************
I've been getting into a daily exercise routine, to help increase my energy level and maaaaybe lose some weight (maybe). Having more energy definitely increases my creative activity, so that's an awesome side-effect. Additionally, I have been trying to change my diet, slowly, ever so slowly. I have a choke-hold on carbohydrates of all kinds....can't live without good bread...and WON'T live without good ice cream and good beer...so that's been difficult.

I had a killer workout this morning, on only four hours of sleep (that kitty!), and fueled by two cups of coffee and a banana and some very loud Green Day in my mp3 player.
What's that you say? Is that...? Why yes, yes it is. My post-workout breakfast DID consist of last night's leftover red cabbage slaw...
Not that you all are interested in my breakfast habits, I just wanted to show you the beautiful magenta color of the cabbage. Isn't that just fantastic? I have to figure out how to get that color in glass. I have several friends who are knowledgeable in the art of dyeing with natural materials, like onion skins, beets, and the like. I bet this would make a great dye! I know it would make a great glass color! I'm sure I can find it in some COE 104 glass....hey, maybe I should work on the torch today...

Hope your Wednesday is productive and creative and colorful!

A quickie for the weekend

I'm learning honest-to-goodness metalsmithing!

Not surprisingly, it's HARD to hammer a piece of 16ga copper sheet into this shape. It's fun, though, and this bowl isn't quite finished yet. More hammering, some application of heat, and more hammering after that.

And....I made end-of-year gifts for the little kids' preschool teachers. Single-charm bracelets....silverplated chain with one of my Bloomz beads as the charm:

The teachers all loved them, which makes me happy. They do an incredible job for little pay, and we are grateful for their dedication to our little ones.

What else...what else.....oh! My garden is really growing now! Must be all the heat, humidity and rain we have been having. I must have a dozen or more tomatoes just waiting to get ripe. Aaah...I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the first tomato sandwich of the season!
I especially love looking out into my yard and seeing that happy pinwheel spinning in the breeze! The shot of color amidst all the lush greens of summer is particularly lovely.

I hope you all have a great weekend....next week will hopefully bring more jewelry and beads to show off, and --gasp!-- maybe I'll even update my Etsy shop with some new lovelies!

Stay tuned!

SOOOOOUP!

I am participating in my first-ever Bead Soup Party, hosted by the wonderful Lori Anderson, of the blog Pretty Things, and Lori Anderson Designs. The assignment is to trade a small collection of beady goodies in a sort of challenge to then make a piece of jewelry from the goodies you receive from your trading partner. You must include a focal bead and a clasp, but anything else is up to you. I don't want to spoil the surprise of my package of beads for my talented partners at EB Bead and Metalworks, so the picture I am posting here is just a tease.

Of course, the beads are BRIGHT. That's all I'm gonna say....there's a dotty hollow focal, a silver hook clasp, and a few other things. I hope they enjoy the package and find something in there to inspire them. :)

When I get my package from them, I will post a pic of what I received and then the party will be ON! I'm so excited and I can't wait to see it all!

Stay tuned!!

Drinking the Kool-Aid

How many of you know the origin of my Kool-Aid reference in the title? :)

And no looking it up on Urban Dictionary! ;)

...

......


Anyway.....I have decided to add another layer of social networking to my already-networked life. Yup. I'm on Twitter now. Go find me @hotpieceofglass and follow along!

(I can't wait to get a smart phone now....joining the 21st century, that's me! ;) )

.............................

And for today's jewelry-related content that I just know you all are waiting anxiously for (ha!)....

I found a robin's nest with four tiny blue eggs in it the other morning, and HAD TO make some egg beads. These are them:
This is the nest:

How cool is it that I could make beads that look just. like. that!? :)

Now I have to decide how to use them....

JOY

Because sometimes I forget.....

JOY is

--riding across the Huguenot Bridge on a gloriously sunny day and feeling like I'm riding my own personal rollercoaster.

--"I wuvoo Mommy"

--meeting a goal I didn't know I really had.

--finally letting go and letting the pieces fall in place.

--taking the kids to the zoo with MY father.

--fresh strawberries in season.

--literally smelling the roses along the way.

--glass.

--having a partner in life.

--MUSIC.